President George H.W. Bush must have really liked the horseshoes Victaulic cast for him in Alburtis

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / COURTESY OF VICTAULIC CO.

President George H.W. Bush sent this picture to Victaulic's president to show his appreciation for the horseshoes the company cast for him at its new Alburtis foundry in 1990.

President George H.W. Bush sent this picture to Victaulic's president to show his appreciation for the horseshoes the company cast for him at its new Alburtis foundry in 1990. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / COURTESY OF VICTAULIC CO.)

Christine SchiavoOf The Morning Call

When George H.W. Bush became president in 1989, he added a horseshoe pitch next to the White House swimming pool so he could toss a few from time to time.

He wasn’t a weekend thrower. The man was serious about the sport — a National Horseshoe Pitchers Association member who averaged 25 ringers a game. His penchant for pitching horseshoes prompted tournaments with White House staff and a demonstration for Queen Elizabeth when she visited the White House in 1991.

America was inspired. A 1989 headline in The New York Times read: “Bush Buoys Horseshoe Industry.”

Executives at Victaulic took notice. The Forks Township company was about to open a foundry in Alburtis. What better way to launch it than with a new set of horseshoes, they figured.

“When one opens a new foundry, it is traditional to cast a special product commemorating the event. Since your Presidency has focused new attention on the sport of Horseshoes, we thought that this would be a particularly appropriate selection,” Victaulic Chairman and President George F. Naumann wrote in a January 1990 letter to the president that was sent along with the gift.

The horseshoes were cast at the foundry, plated at Victaulic’s Apex facility in New Jersey, and packaged with stakes that were made and painted at the Forks Township plant.

“It is our privilege to share this gift with you, on behalf of Victaulic Company of America and its 2,000 employees,” Naumann wrote.

PHOTO GALLERY: A look back at former President George H.W. Bush's visits to the Lehigh Valley over the years as candidate, president and former president.

The president apparently wasted no time putting the freshly cast pieces to use. He sent Naumann a signed action shot of himself tossing a horseshoe, writing: “To George Naumann and the Victaulic Corp. of America. With appreciation and best wishes. George Bush.”

Because of that, company spokeswoman Megan Longenderfer said, Victaulic — and by extension, the Lehigh Valley — shared a special connection with the former president.